Cyclonic Storm Arnab Slams Into Andhra Coast With 150 km/h Gusts, Flooding Kakinada and Lashing Odisha
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab began crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast shortly after 1:20 am on Wednesday, October 28. It came ashore between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, just south of Yanam.
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Cyclonic Storm Arnab Slams Into The Coast
The India Meteorological Department put maximum sustained winds at 125-135 km/h with gusts up to 150 km/h. IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said those speeds would hold for about four more hours while the system crossed. The storm has been moving very slowly, so the worst of the wind and rain is lingering over the Kakinada, Konaseema and West Godavari belt. A storm surge of 1-2 metres has been forecast. By morning the centre was roughly 30 km from Narsapuram, and early reports suggest the Godavari districts have been hit hardest.
Flooded Streets, Fallen Trees
Trees were uprooted and power lines snapped across Kakinada, and seawater entered homes in coastal pockets. Visakhapatnam saw waterlogged roads in Beach Road, MVP Colony and Siripuram. PTI reporting carried by NewsDrum said police in Kakinada rescued four people stranded near Bombay Katta, while workers were trapped at the Central Water Commission godowns near the anchorage port. Flights have been suspended and trains cancelled across the region.
Casualties and Evacuations
Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, speaking after a teleconference involving some 32,000 officials, said no loss of life had been reported in Andhra Pradesh so far, though crop damage is being assessed. One death has been reported in Odisha. More than 1.37 lakh people have been moved to shelters across the two states, including 48,010 in eight southern Odisha districts. Andhra’s power department has deployed about 6,000 personnel for restoration.
Odisha and Bengal Next in Line
Red warnings for extremely heavy rain are in force for Gajapati and Ganjam today, with more southern Odisha districts likely to join the list on Thursday. Schools in 16 Odisha districts are shut. Parts of West Bengal have also seen heavy rain and gusty winds.
How Cyclone Arnab Got Its Name
The name Arnab was put forward by Bangladesh and came up in turn from the rotating list of names used for storms in the North Indian Ocean. The system, run under a WMO-backed regional panel and applied by the India Meteorological Department, began in 2004 with eight countries and later grew to 13 members. Each country contributes names, which are then used in sequence once a system reaches cyclonic storm strength. In Bengali, arnab means “ocean” or “sea,” drawn from the Sanskrit word arṇava, which makes it a fitting label for a storm born over the Bay of Bengal. The practice carries real weight beyond tradition. A short, distinct name lets forecasters, disaster agencies, the media and coastal communities refer to the same storm without confusion, which helps warnings spread faster and be remembered. Names are chosen to be neutral and easy to pronounce across the region’s many languages, and they avoid anything that could be culturally sensitive. The September system near the same coast never reached cyclonic storm status, so the name stayed unused until now, which is why Arnab appears as the first named storm of this post-monsoon season.
Bengal Gets the Rain, Not the Storm
Arnab itself is not expected to travel to West Bengal. The cyclone made landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coast and is set to weaken over land, so Bengal will feel its outer effects, mainly rain and squally weather, rather than a direct strike. IMD Kolkata’s Special Bulletin No. 10 warns of squally winds along and off the West Bengal coast from October 27 to 29. It also forecasts heavy rainfall at one or two places in some districts between October 28 and 30, with rough to very rough seas off the coast.
Murshidabad falls among the inland districts in the forecast. The bulletin lists it with East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum and Nadia for thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 30-40 km/h at one or two places. Earlier forecasts also flagged heavy rain across South Bengal, including Howrah, Hooghly and North 24 Parganas, from October 28. Residents of these districts can expect spells of rain and gusts rather than cyclone-force winds. Fishermen in the Bay and boatmen on the Ganga should avoid venturing out while the warnings last. The IMD’s Kolkata bulletins will carry any change to these alerts.
